Love In Action – Taste and Touch

Anyone who knows me knows that I love good food. I get it from my mum. All my siblings are the same in this way, no matter what the topic of conversation may start out as we almost always end up talking about food. What we ate when we went where, or what we wish we could be eating. My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t appreciate this gift of food that came straight from the hands of God. He once said to me that he wished he could fill up with fuel like a vehicle because eating and thinking about what to eat were such a chore. I honestly wish I could block that memory from my brain or pretend that I don’t low-key judge him because of his position.

I read somewhere that in the Gospels alone, food is referenced 90 times, and eating is mentioned at least 109 times. All this talk about food. I think from this, it is safe to assume that God and food are a thing.

We have spent the past two weeks talking about the 5 Love Languages, a book written by Dr Gary Chapman in which he unpacks the idea that we all have five general ways that we express and experience love. My sister and I are convinced that Dr Chapman, similar to my husband, is somehow blind to the reality that food is also a love language. While this is yet to be verified, I hope you will indulge me slightly as I endeavour to show how God uses food, or references to food, to show us love.

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” ~ Psalm 34:8 (ESV)

“Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.” Psalm 37:25 (NLT)

God expresses and receives love through food. I always think of our need to eat at least once a day as an inbuilt reminder that God placed within us, pointing to our need for daily communion with Him. One of the basic ways that God shows His love for us as our Heavenly Father is to provide for our daily bread, and our daily needs, which include food. He also provided and continues to provide for our spiritual needs, the daily bread of His Word that feeds our spirits and our minds.

“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” ~ John 6:35 (NLT)

How does God receive love through food you ask? While I know we can’t exactly prepare a meal and set it before the Lord like some people do with cookies and milk for Santa Claus, we can show love, through food, to those He loves.

“After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.” ~ John 21:15 (NLT)

Before I get to my point, notice how Jesus made His disciples breakfast. Just saying. Anyway, though this text is specifically talking to Peter about feeding the Church of Christ, we are safe to use it in this context- if you love God, you will feed His sheep, those whom He loves. Jesus references this type of love in action in another passage of scripture, Matthew twenty-five, verses thirty-one to forty, to be exact. Here He illustrates how the Kingdom of Heaven will sift those who love Him from those who do not. From the 6 conditions given, Jesus mentions how if we take the time to feed His beloved, even the least of them, it is the same as if we had fed Him.

Having been raised by a foodie, and being one myself, I take great pleasure in preparing meals for those I love. Special visits from family or friends have me excitedly planning menus and thinking about what their favourite combinations might be. This is not by chance. God has used my love for food and yielded it for His purposes, to show love and hospitality to those He has placed in my circle. Using food as a vehicle to create a safe and soft place for people to land when they visit, is a way that we can show our love to God.

“Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.” ~ 1 Peter 4:9

OK, back to the last ‘real’ love language listed by Dr Chapman, physical touch.

Do you look forward to hugs, cuddles, and kisses from your loved ones? Do public displays of affection, like holding hands, help you feel wanted and desired? If your answer is yes then it sounds to me like your love language is probably physical touch. If you are a physical touch person then you feel loved when you receive physical signs of affection, because they affirm you and serve as an incredible emotional connector between you and those you love. The feelings of warmth and comfort that come with physical touch are a must for you.

Does God show and receive love through touch? Does He affirm us, causing us to feel secure in Him with His touch? I think He does. 

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

“Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ~ Matthew 17:7 (emphasis added)

Have you ever been worshipping God and felt His touch? Though He is Spirit and His touch is not physical, it can’t be missed. Another way that God touches us is through His people. Think of the worst moment in your life… Who was around you? Did they comfort or reassure you with touch? God sent them to you for that very moment you know. Many are times in my own life when I have needed a hug from God, and He commissioned someone to come to me and deliver that hug. This is a sobering reminder not to take the people in our lives for granted, they truly are Jesus with skin on when we need Him so.  

I told you the love of God was not like a bad action movie promising what it can’t deliver. God’s love, real love, is packed with action. His love is not only able to save us and keep us, but it compels us to do for others what we couldn’t previously do in and of ourselves. It prompts us to be more forgiving, more patient, kinder to strangers and so much more. His love is action and compels action. I hope you have been encouraged to see God’s love for you more practically these past few weeks. I challenge you to take more notice and as you do, may you be compelled to be His love in action to those in your world.